Twitter reveals parts of source code

New York, Mar 31 (EFE).- Twitter made public Friday elements of the source code that decides which tweets appear in users’ timelines in the interest of making the online platform “more transparent.”

“Twitter recommendation source code now available to all on GitHub,” CEO Elon Musk tweeted. “Acid test is that independent third parties should be able to determine, with reasonable accuracy, what will probably be shown to users.”

The release excluded “any code that would compromise user safety and privacy or the ability to protect our platform from bad actors, including undermining our efforts at combating child sexual exploitation and manipulation,” Twitter’s engineers said in a separate thread.

“Today’s release also does not include the code that powers our ad recommendations. We also took additional steps to ensure that user safety and privacy would be protected,” the engineers said.

Observers have noted changes in the algorithm since Musk acquired Twitter last October, including a greater frequency of ads and the prominence of the CEO’s tweets across all feeds, including those of users who don’t follow Musk.

The South African-born billionaire discussed the partial release of the source code on Twitter Spaces, the platform’s live audio conversation feature.

“Our initial release of the so-called algorithm is going to be quite embarrassing, and people are going to find a lot of mistakes, but we’re going to fix them very quickly,” Musk said. “Even if you don’t agree with something, at least you’ll know why it’s there, and that you’re not being secretly manipulated.”

“The analog, here, that we’re aspiring to is the great example of Linux as an open source operating system,” he said.

Twitter shared the source code a day before the start of a new policy requiring users to pay $8 a month (or $84 a year) for the blue check mark that verifies the poster is who he or she purports to be.

And beginning April 15, only tweets from verified Twitter Blue accounts will be included in For You recommendations.

“The is the only realistic way to address advanced AI bot swarms taking over. It is otherwise a hopeless losing battle. Voting in polls will require verification for same reason,” Musk said Monday, announcing the change.

EFE fjo/dr